Resumen de Hexagonal Planning in Theory and Practice

Eran Ben-Joseph, David L. A. Gordon

• Residential neighbourhood designs with street patterns based upon hexagonal blocks were proposed by several planners in the early 20th century. Urban designers such as Charles Lamb, Noulan Cauchon and Barry Parker demonstrated the economic advantages and efficient land use generated by hexagonal plans. By 1930, hexagonal planning was a leading theoretical alternative to the rectangular grid for residential subdivisions, but it was displaced by the loop and cul-de-sac model developed in Radburn, New Jersey, by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright. The paper chronologically reviews the various hexagonal planning schemes and their designers. It considers the advantages and disadvantages of hexagons, using their designers' own words and drawings.